1:30 - UMass 83-42. Mike Sinn and Nana Ampim into the game at this time. The players on the bench are really, really enjoying this.

2:48 - UMass 79-40. Even though its a blowout, these are hugley positive minutes for UMass' bench players.The lead has gone from 51-26 to 79-40 in the ten minutes since the starters were taken out of the game. Yeah, it's the Bonnies. But this hasn't been a grabage-time free-for-all like it sometimes is when coaches clear the bench. The guys are playing hard out there, and they are looking pretty darn good. Matt Pennie checks into the game, to the delight of the fans.

7:36 - UMass 69-36. Bonner hits another three! Good for him to have the confidence to take those shots after really struggling to connect from long distance all season. 11 points for the big man. Who saw this one coming?

8:48 - UMass 64-36. Luke Bonner with the slam! And the block! And the threeeeee!

12:59 - UMass 51-26. Now that the rout is on, Ford goes to the bench: Bonner, Milligan, Thomas, Harris, and Mayben on the court right now. Always interesting to see what these guys do on the court together. Usually its not much, but in a game like this, Ford might be more willing to let them stay out there and see what they can produce.

16:43 - UMass 45-24. Looks like Travis Ford wants to blow this game wide open: he's bringing out the full court press, and its getting results. The Bonnies already have 3 turnovers in the 2nd half. Elsewhere, Gary Forbes already has 10 rebounds in this game.

*** *** ***

Some 1st Half Stats for UMass:

Freeman & Lasme: 22 points on 11-13 shooting.

The Rest of the team: 14 points on 5-14 shooting.

Turnovers: 9

Free throws: 3-8

Points in the Paint: 30

HALFTIME: UMass 36, St. Bonaventure 22. Rashaun Freeman closes out the half with a huge, rim-rocking dunk at the buzzer, finishing off a fast break pass from Ricky Harris. Freeman is really fired up, hopping up and down and hceering as he heads into the locker room. 12 points on 6-7 shooting for Ray in the first half.

3:40 - UMass 28-16. The Minutemen shootin 13-22 (59%) so far this half. Surprisingly, they've only taken 3 three-pointers, making 1. If that holds, it's gotta be one of their lowest 3-point shot attempt totals for a single half this season...

...and right away Ricky Harris takes and misses a 3, but Lasme slams home the offensive rebound... and on the next possession Chris Lowe misses a 20-footer. So the premise of this little note is pretty much toast.

The student section has slowly but steadily grown, to the point where now I'd revise my estimate to about 400-500.

7:03 - UMass 25-14. St. Bonaventure is trying to stop UMass with a 2-3 zone. It ain't working. The UMass guards are easily passing the ball into the post, over the zone, and the post players are just turning around and dunking it. 8 points for Lasme already, all easy buckets. Nice contribution from Luke Bonner, taking a charge just seconds after entering the game.

10:03 - UMass 19-9. Dante Milligan continues his excellent play of late. A couple rebounds, a block, a steal, and a dunk. Also, 6 early points for Freeman, who's rocking the white sweatband tonight. I dig it.

13:57 - UMass 10-7. A couple early slams by Stephane Lasme accentuate the Minutemen's inside advantage. Travis Ford shows that he's leaving very little room for error from James Life, who immediately gets the hook just 3 minutes into the game after an errant pass.

***

I was afraid this would happen.

Man, it's got to be disappointing for the Minutemen to retrun home to this: after winning on ESPN2 and earning 2of SportsCenter's plays of the day, and then going into Dayton and getting a win where no other team had won this season, they come home and the student turnout is pathetic. At tip-off, I'd estimate there's maybe 150-200 people in the student section in the end zone near the band. At the other end zone, there's maybe a dozen. The rest of the crowd has turned out pretty good, but the students are a huge let-down. This team is in first place. They are playing tonight for their 20th win. What more do people want?

*** *** ***

At 7:00 tonight, UMass goes for its 20th win of the season, which would be the first time they crossed the symbolic threshhold since 1829 (give or take 169 years).

Standing in their way is the fearsome (cough), dreaded (ahem), much-ballyhooed (wha?) Bonnies of St. Bonaventure University, the pride of Olean, NY.

I will be liveblogging from the sidelines, probably from underneath a riser or something.